The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Increases Dividend to $0.50 Per Share

The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 28th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.50 per share by the pipeline company on Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a 5.3% increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48.

Williams Companies has raised its dividend by an average of 5.0% annually over the last three years. Williams Companies has a payout ratio of 85.1% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings fall. Analysts expect Williams Companies to earn $2.32 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 86.2%.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $54.96 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. Williams Companies has a 12 month low of $36.51 and a 12 month high of $61.46. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.33. The stock has a market cap of $67.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.03, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. As a group, analysts predict that Williams Companies will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total transaction of $5,128,278.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,907,316.72. This represents a 11.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $511,520.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,284,492.50. The trade was a 28.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 131,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,107,758 over the last 90 days. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Williams Companies stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 40.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,680 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,969 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $740,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMB has been the subject of several research reports. CIBC lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.07.

About Williams Companies

The Williams Companies, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy infrastructure company primarily in the United States. It operates through Transmission & Gulf of Mexico, Northeast G&P, West, and Gas & NGL Marketing Services segments. The Transmission & Gulf of Mexico segment comprises natural gas pipelines; Transco, Northwest pipeline, MountainWest, and related natural gas storage facilities; and natural gas gathering and processing, and crude oil production handling and transportation assets in the Gulf Coast region.